Time to get on top of 2018 EFA Calculations

Farmers are advised to start the process of measuring
and mapping any features they intend to use to meet their 2018 Ecological
Focus Areas (EFA) obligations to avoid falling foul of greening rule
changes.

Growers should start thinking about how they will complete their
2018 Basic
Payment Scheme applications now, rather than leave it
until the final few weeks before the May 15 deadline, according
to Strutt &
Parker.

“The changes around the ban on the use of plant protection products
on nitrogen fixing crops and fallow have been well publicised,”
said George Badger, farm consultant with Strutt & Parker. “However,
DEFRA has recently confirmed some additional changes to greening
rules which growers will need also need to consider.

“These include a ban on cultivating fallow land for weed control
which could be a blow for those farmers who had been hoping to
utilise whole-field fallow to help control blackgrass. It means
there is a now a good chance that any germinated blackgrass plants
will have set seed before a cultivation or glyphosate can be used
on 1 July.”

It is anticipated that many farmers will be looking to use hedgerows,
buffer strips and field margins in order to meet their EFA requirement.

However, it is vital that farmers are clear on the eligibility
of each of the different options and measure them correctly – or
they could face penalties when their BPS claim is processed.

For example, hedges used as EFA must be located on, or within
five metres of, arable land and of a continuous length of more
than 20m.

In terms of weighting, each side of the hedge is worth 5m2 per
metre of hedge – so if a farmer is able to claim both sides
of the hedge then 1,000m of hedge equates to 1 ha of EFA.

“Checking the eligibility of hedges may be a challenge for people
who have traditionally used peas and beans to meet their EFA obligation,”
said Mr Badger. “This is why it is best to start the exercise sooner
rather than later and to consider how the different options can
be mixed to best effect. There is good news in that the Rural
Payments Agency has promised that it is introducing a ‘hedge layer’ to Rural
Payments online which should map the location and length of hedges
and also specify whether they are EFA eligible. However, this information
will need to be checked carefully.”

He added:
“A positive change to the greening rules, is also the
introduction of the new field margin option, which been given a
much higher weighting than options such as catch and cover crops.

“Field margins are a 1m strip of uncultivated land adjacent to
a bank, hedge, fence or road. It differs to a buffer strip in that
it does not need to be next to a watercourse.

“This means farmers who establish an uncultivated strip next to
a hedge should be able to claim 5m2 for one side of the hedge and
an additional 9m2 for the field margin. The field margin strip
can be located on the same area as the 2m cross-compliance protection
zone, but there must be at least 1m of uncultivated land from the
edge of the hedge to be eligible. This means if hedges are particularly
wide then it will be necessary to leave an extra metre to ensure
the EFA margin extends at least 1m from the hedge’s edge.

“A key message is that most farms should find it fairly straightforward
to meet their EFA obligation if they have a healthy balance of hedges
and watercourses, and leave some land uncultivated to claim as a field
margin. For example, a 200 ha arable farm with an average field size
of 8ha will be able to satisfy their 10ha EFA requirement with 7.15km
of one-sided hedgerow with an adjacent field margin. This is approximately
a quarter of the estimated field perimeter they are likely to have
at their disposal.”

“If in doubt, seek professional advice to confirm the eligibility
of EFA features and for guidance in how they should be managed over
the coming months.”